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Your tweets become more sporadic and you write that fatal tweet, “not sure if I really get the point of Twitter”.

If you’re guilty of some of the above then prepare yourself for some bad news: you are likely to become a Twitter Quitter.

This blog post by Nielsen highlights Twitter’s comparatively poor user retention rate, which is currently hovering between 30-40% in the US.

Nielsen argues that this was true of the fledgling MySpace and Facebook as users struggled to understand what social networks meant for them in the early days. In spite of this it seems to be a common theme that on an individual level, many people fail to see the point of Twitter.

From my perspective this is a shame. Whether it’s blogs, forums, media sharing sites such as Fileshare or Flickr, and social networks, the fact remains that personal experimentation of social media is a key prerequisite to helping businesses understand, embrace and use social media effectively.

Twitter on other tools present major opportunities for businesses to listen and engage with key stakeholders, be they customers, partners, or investors. Businesses staffed by Twitter Quitters will fail to understand the potential benefits. The message here – with a big hat tip to icrossing’s Antony Mayfield – is “stick with Twitter, experiment and learn to read Twitter before abandoning it personally and professionally”.

Unlike many other social media channels, Twitter does not drain time and resource that many fear. This, interestingly, can be an issue. At our recent Online PR and Social Media roundtable, one attendee talked about brand reputational issues caused by junior staff given licence to experiment with Twitter and going too far ‘off-message’.

On the plus side, businesses that effectively plan and resource their Twitter feeds find themselves spending only a small percentage of their day building, developing and engaging a valuable network.

So, our advice is rather than becoming a Twitter Quitter, plan and set yourself some personal Twitter objectives:

What am I using Twitter for? – e.g. to connect with experts in my industry and keep up to speed with key issues, trends and developments OR to build my own profile and expertise within my industry OR to experiment before developing my business social media strategy OR [insert your objective here].

What is my 140 character tone/style?

Am I following the right people? If not how will I find and follow others?

Does my username, avatar, background image, profile and biography work and say what I want it to say about me?

What do I feel about the balance between broadcasting information, being useful, linking out and being me?

Am I going to dip in and out or being an ‘always on’ Tweeter?

Do I need to use some Twitter tools or applications to get the best from Twitter when I’m mobile or at my computer, e.g. Tweetdeck?

Once you’ve cracked this, then it’s on to that all important Phase 2, which is considering what Twitter can mean for your business.

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